Western Asia
|population = 313,428,000 (2018) (9th) |density = |GDP_nominal = $3.751 trillion (2019) Outlook Database, October 2019 |GDP_PPP = $9.063 trillion (2019) |GDP_per_capita = $11,967 (2019; nominal) $28,918 (2019; PPP) |HDI = 0.699 (medium) |ethnic_groups = Semitic (Afro-Arab), Turkic, Iranian, Caucasian, Cushitic, Hellenic, Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Austronesian, etc. |religions = Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Bahá'í, Druzism, Yarsanism, Yazidism, Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. |demonym = West Asian Western Asian |countries = | | | | (Sinai) | | | | | | | | | | | | | (Anatolia) | | }} | | | }} |dependencies = * |languages = | Austronesian: | Indo-European: | NE Caucasian: | NW Caucasian: | Turkic: }} |time = | UTC+03:00: | UTC+03:30: | UTC+04:00: | UTC+04:30: }} |internet = .ae, .am, .az, .bh, .cy, .eg, .ge, .il, .iq, .ir, .jo, .kw, .lb, .om, .ps, .qa, .sa, .sy, .tr, .ye |calling_code = Zone 9 except Armenia, Cyprus (Zone 3) & Sinai (Zone 2) |cities = | bullets = true | Aleppo | Amman | Ankara | Baghdad | Istanbul | Kuwait City | Riyadh | Tehran }} |m49 = 145 – Western Asia 142 – Asia 001 – World |footnotes = Area and population figures include the Sinai}} Among the top 100 urban areas of the world by population}} }} Western Asia, West Asia, Southwestern Asia, or Southwest Asia is the westernmost subregion of Asia. It includes Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Armenian Highlands, Iran, the Levant, Mesopotamia, the Sinai Peninsula, and Transcaucasia. The region is considered to be separated from Africa by the Isthmus of Suez, and separated from Europe by the waterways of the Turkish Straits and the drainage divide of the Caucasus Mountains, while Central Asia lies to the northeast and South Asia lies to the east of Western Asia. 20 countries are located fully or partly in Western Asia, out of which 13 are part of the Arab world. The most populous countries in Western Asia are Turkey (partly in Southeast Europe), Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. The total population of Western Asia is estimated to be 300 million (as of 2015). History "Western Asia" was in use as a geographical term in the early 19th century, even before "Near East" became current as a geopolitical concept.e.g. James Rennell, A treatise on the comparative geography of western Asia, 1831. In the context of the history of classical antiquity, "Western Asia" could mean the part of Asia known in classical antiquity, as opposed to the reaches of "interior Asia", i.e. Scythia, and "Eastern Asia" the easternmost reaches of geographical knowledge in classical authors, i.e. Transoxania and India.James Rennell, The Geographical System of Herodotus Examined and Explained, 1800, p. 210.Hugh Murray, Historical Account of Discoveries and Travels in Asia (1820).Samuel Whelpley, A compend of history, from the earliest times, 1808, p. 9. In the 20th century, "Western Asia" was used to denote a rough geographical era in the fields of archaeology and ancient history, especially as a shorthand for "the Fertile Crescent excluding Ancient Egypt" for the purposes of comparing the early civilizations of Egypt and the former.e.g. Petrus Van Der Meer, The Chronology of Ancient Western Asia and Egypt, 1955. Karl W. Butzer, Physical Conditions in Eastern Europe, Western Asia and Egypt Before the Period of Agricultural and Urban Settlement, 1965. Use of the term in the context of contemporary geopolitics or world economy appears to date from at least the mid-1960s.The Tobacco Industry of Western Asia, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service, 1964. Geography Western Asia is located directly south of Eastern Europe. The region is surrounded by seven major seas; the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. To the north, the region is delimited from Europe by the Caucasus Mountains, to the southwest, it is delimited from Africa by the Isthmus of Suez, while to the east, the region adjoins Central Asia and South Asia. The Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lut deserts in eastern Iran naturally delimit the region somewhat from Asia itself. Geology Plate tectonics Three major tectonic plates converge on Western Asia, including the African, Eurasian, and Arabian plates. The boundaries between the tectonic plates make up the Azores-Gibraltar Ridge, extending across North Africa, the Red Sea, and into Iran.Beaumont (1988), p. 22 The Arabian Plate is moving northward into the Anatolian plate (Turkey) at the East Anatolian Fault, and the boundary between the Aegean and Anatolian plate in eastern Turkey is also seismically active. Water resources Several major aquifers provide water to large portions of Western Asia. In Saudi Arabia, two large aquifers of Palaeozoic and Triassic origins are located beneath the Jabal Tuwayq mountains and areas west to the Red Sea.Beaumont (1988), p. 86 Cretaceous and Eocene-origin aquifers are located beneath large portions of central and eastern Saudi Arabia, including Wasia and Biyadh which contain amounts of both fresh water and saline water. Flood or furrow irrigation, as well as sprinkler methods, are extensively used for irrigation, covering nearly 90,000 km2 across Western Asia for agriculture. Also, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers contribute very well. Climate Cedar Forest in winter]] map of West Asia]] Western Asia is primarily arid and semi-arid, and can be subject to drought, but it also contains vast expanses of forest and fertile valleys. The region consists of grasslands, rangelands, deserts, and mountains. Water shortages are a problem in many parts of West Asia, with rapidly growing populations increasing demands for water, while salinization and pollution threaten water supplies. Major rivers, including the Tigris and Euphrates, provide sources for irrigation water to support agriculture. There are two wind phenomena in Western Asia: the sharqi and the shamal. The sharqi (or sharki) is a wind that comes from the south and southeast. It is seasonal, lasting from April to early June, and comes again between late September and November. The winds are dry and dusty, with occasional gusts up to 80 kilometres per hour (50 miles per hour) and often kick up violent sand and dust storms that can carry sand a few thousand meters high, and can close down airports for short periods of time. These winds can last for a full day at the beginning and end of the season, and for several days during the middle of the season. The shamal is a summer northwesterly wind blowing over Iraq and the Persian Gulf states (including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), often strong during the day, but decreasing at night. This weather effect occurs anywhere from once to several times a year. Topography Western Asia contains large areas of mountainous terrain. The Anatolian Plateau is sandwiched between the Pontus Mountains and Taurus Mountains in Turkey. Mount Ararat in Turkey rises to 5,137 meters. The Zagros Mountains are located in Iran, in areas along its border with Iraq. The Central Plateau of Iran is divided into two drainage basins. The northern basin is Dasht-e Kavir (Great Salt Desert), and Dasht-e-Lut is the southern basin. In Yemen, elevations exceed 3,700 meters in many areas, and highland areas extend north along the Red Sea coast and north into Lebanon. A fault-zone also exists along the Red Sea, with continental rifting creating trough-like topography with areas located well-below sea level. The Dead Sea, located on the border between the West Bank, Israel, and Jordan, is situated at 418 m (1371 ft) below sea level, making it the lowest point on the surface of the Earth. Rub' al Khali, one of the world's largest sand deserts, spans the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula in Saudi Arabia, parts of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Jebel al Akhdar is a small range of mountains located in northeastern Oman, bordering the Gulf of Oman. Demographics The population of Western Asia was estimated at 272 million as of 2008, projected to reach 370 million by 2030 by Maddison (2007; the estimate excludes the Caucasus and Cyprus). This corresponds to an annual growth rate of 1.4% (or a doubling time of 50 years), well above the world average of 0.9% (doubling time 75 years). The population of Western Asia is estimated at about 4% of world population, up from about 39 million at the beginning of the 20th century, or about 2% of world population at the time.Data for "15 West Asian countries", from Maddison (2003, 2007).Angus Maddison, 2003, The World Economy: Historical Statistics, Vol. 2, OECD, Paris, . Statistical Appendix (2007, ggdc.net) "The historical data were originally developed in three books: Monitoring the World Economy 1820–1992, OECD, Paris 1995; The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective, OECD Development Centre, Paris 2001; The World Economy: Historical Statistics, OECD Development Centre, Paris 2003. All these contain detailed source notes." Estimates for 2008 by country (in millions): Turkey (71.9), Iran (70.2), Iraq (28.2), Saudi Arabia (28.1), Yemen (23.0), Syria (19.7), Israel (6.5), Jordan (6.2), Palestine (4.1), Lebanon (4.0), Oman (3.3), United Arab Emirates (2.7), Kuwait (2.6), Qatar (0.9), Bahrain (0.7). The most populous countries in the region are Turkey and Iran and, each with around 79 million people, followed by Iraq and Saudi Arabia with around 33 million people each. Numerically, Western Asia is predominantly Arab, Persian, Turkish, and the dominating languages are correspondingly Arabic, Persian and Turkish, each with of the order of 70 million speakers, followed by smaller communities of Kurdish, Azerbaijani, Hebrew, Armenian and Eastern Aramaic. The dominance of Arabic and Turkish is the result of the medieval Arab and Turkic invasions beginning with the Islamic conquests of the 7th century AD, which displaced the formerly dominant Aramaic and Hebrew in the Levant, and Greek in Anatolia, although Hebrew is once again the dominant language in Israel, and Aramaic (spoken largely by Chaldeans, Arameans and Assyrians) and Greek both remain present in their respective territories as minority languages. Other significant native minorities include Assyrians, Chaldeans, Druze, Jews, Mandeans, Maronites, Shabaks, Syriac Arameans, Lurs and Yezidis. Economy The economy of Western Asia is diverse and the region experiences high economic growth. Turkey has the largest economy in the region, followed by Saudi Arabia and Iran. Petroleum is the major industry in the regional economy, as more than half of the world's oil reserves and around 40 percent of the world's natural gas reserves are located in the region. Statistical data Notes: 1 The figures for Turkey includes East Thrace, which is not a part of Anatolia. 2 The area and population figures for Egypt only include the Sinai Peninsula. 3 Ramallah is the actual location of the government, whereas the proclaimed capital of Palestine is Jerusalem, which is disputed. , but not its de facto capital as its government branches are based in Ramallah. The UN and most sovereign states do not recognize Jerusalem as either state's de jure capital under the position that Jerusalem's status is pending future negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. In practice, therefore, most maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv and its suburbs, or else in suburbs such as Mevaseret Zion outside Jerusalem proper. See CIA Factbook, and Status of Jerusalem for more information.}} 4 Jerusalem is the proclaimed capital of Israel and the actual location of the Knesset, Israeli Supreme Court, etc. Due to its disputed status, most embassies are in Tel Aviv. 5 Unrecognised state 6 UN observer state 7 British Overseas Territory Sports *The West Asian Tennis Federation regulates the championships and leagues in the region. *The West Asian Billiards & Snooker Federation regulates the championships related to billiards and snooker, amongst which an annual tournament. *The West Asian Games have been held in 1997, 2002 and 2005. *The West Asian Football Federation was founded in 2001 and is one of the regional federations of the Asian Football Federation. They organize the WAFF Championship. *The West Asia Basketball Association organizes the WABA Championship since 1999. Notes References External links * Stanford's Map of Western Asia from 1885 by Edward Stanford Category:Western Asia Category:Regions of Asia Category:Geography of Western Asia